Happy New Year to you all, and a massive THANK YOU from all the Commando Temple Team for all of your support throughout 2016 (and before, for many of you!)

At the start of a new year it’s customary to look back at what was achieved in the year just gone, to see just how far you’ve come, and more importantly to look ahead to all the great things that are to come…so that’s what we’ll be doing in the month’s edition.

Highlights of 2016!

2016 was a massive year for events, courses, competitions, workshops and fundraisers, and as per usual LOADS of you got involved! We held our first ever calisthenics competition (which just so happened to be the first ever UK and Ireland Calisthenics Championships), we hosted several more grip competitions, and a number of the coaches performed incredibly well at World’s Strongest Hands, the British Grip Champs and the International King Kong of Grip.

We ran our infamous Strongman and Strongwoman competitions again (for the 3rd year running!) and took groups out for challenges away from the gym. These included the Twisted Peaks Challenge, a twisted take on the 3 Peaks Challenge, where the 17 people who took part climbed the 3 highest peaks in the UK…carrying kettlebells up to 24kg each!

We’ve worked on the gym, got more kit, created more space, become the first approved club under British Powerlifting, listened to what people wanted, and delivered! We’ve added morning classes, added extra evening classes, extended our opening hours so that we open earlier now (6am instead of 7!).

We’ve had TV appearances, magazine and podcast features, forged ties with new organisations and worked hard to maintain and build our reputation as a serious Strength Training facility with serious integrity…and we’re greedy! Because we want MORE!

2017 and BEYOND!!

Marathon des Sables

In 2017 we have plenty to look forward to! In April, Rob and his friend George will be running the Marathon des Sables – which is a 250km footrace through the Sahara Desert over 6 days in temperatures up to 50 degrees celsius! They’ve chosen to run this for the charity Walking with the Wounded, who help injured servicemen and women get back into work, and our aim is to raise £30,000 for the cause. So far, through a walk from London to Brighton, some help from you lot in our community, and an amazing donation of £5,000 from Guardian Wealth Management we’ve got to around £15,000. The Guardian Wealth Management guys will also be having Rob over there as a motivational speaker, talking to them about his experiences in the Royal Marines and his journey so far. After 8 years service Rob was medically discharged and left with some hard decisions to make…as they say in the film Train Spotting…he chose life; 🙂 several borderline stupid adventures, multiple competitions and races, an award winning gym (and team of coaches developed within the Temple) Rob is ready to smash 2017 with more of the same.

We have a further 2 big fundraising events coming up, which include the Dartmoor Dreadnought which is a challenge set by Rob in Dartmoor…an area famed for some of the toughest military challenges out there. We currently have 3 teams of 4 people signed up for this, and the teams will be carrying a log (either 50 or 80kg) per team for 3 days over some ‘interesting’ terrain for the duration of a 30 mile course. One of the teams includes the MDS runners Rob and George, whilst there will also be a US Navy Seal team and a ladies’ team, so it’ll be very interesting to see how they do against one another! We also have an option of a Naked Dreadnought for those of you who are up for it…no, you’re not doing the challenge starkers! That’s against the law 😉 …the naked version is for those carrying no log. We’re still looking to sign up teams, and as always – the more, the merrier!

Charity Auction

The final fundraising event will be our charity auction. This will be held on 31st March, and we are planning to auction off items, skills, and anything else auction-able to raise money for the charity. We will have a couple of bands playing, drinks, snacks, and a compère, as well as the opportunity to bid for a range of things from personal training sessions and gym memberships to clothing, a private chef and more. Please put this date in your diaries, and if there is anything at all you could donate for the auction, or a raffle – be it a skill or an item(s) please let us know. We’ll send out more details about the event shortly.

Calisthenics Certification

Last Year’s Event

Following on from the Marathon des Sables will be the PCC (Progressive Calisthenics Certification) May 19th-21st. This will be the second year running that we have hosted this certification, which is THE heavyweight Calisthenics cert for anyone serious about understand and teaching it. You can still book onto this course by following the link above.

Strongman and Strongwoman Weekend

George Grimes at our 2016 Comp

And this isn’t all that’s happening in May; we also have our 4th annual Strongman/Strongwoman competitions taking place on 28th and 29th May, with the Strongwomen competing on the Sunday and the Strongmen on Bank Holiday Monday. We’ll put out the full details of the events, etc. shortly…but save the date! These are always great days for competitors and spectators alike.

Macebell Certification

And finally (or at least for now), on 4th June we have Mr Maceman Rik Brown heading to us from across the pond to teach his renowned Macebell Instructors course. This has only ever been taught in the UK once before, up in Newcastle, but now is your opportunity to get booked onto it. It’s available for purchase through the MindBody site under Commando Temple and then under the events tab.

Anyway, well done for making it this far – we had so much news that we wanted to share with you, and as ever, we’d love to hear from you! We want you guys to share your accomplishments with us, and to feel part of our community…so with in mind, the first 5 people to share this strong comment on their timelines on social media will receive a free PT session with a trainer of your choice! Get sharing, and let us know.